


The Tale

by jujubean



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, I honestly don't know what to tag this, low intensity pining, moderate fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 22:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8915203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jujubean/pseuds/jujubean
Summary: Loki has been an excellent storyteller for as long as anyone can remember. He loves the craft and even as he gets older and generally more bitter, he doesn't lose his love for it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, this is essentially the intro for a fic that came to me in a dream. I woke a friend up to chatter about it, then I let it gather dust. Then the Angstiest Plot Bunny of All Time hit me out of nowhere... and vanished before I could write it down or note it in any way. So I have no idea where the plot is for this. 
> 
> That said, I just wanted to get this little bit out. I'll mark it complete for now, but I might come back and add that Mega Angsty Bit. Be Ye Warned. This is cute and fluffy, though.

“Tell  _ The Tale _ , Loki.” 

His head still barely cleared the All Father’s hip, and already he was a skilled storyteller. He’d learned it from Queen Frigga, of course. Her whispers and shouts, her gestures and leans, the sparkle of her magic, all combined to tell a tale that engaged even the most reluctant of listeners. Loki had a penchant for wishing to be great at all things that fascinated him. Just as he worked at his magics, knives and strained to learn all that his father could teach of ruling the Nine Realms; Loki practiced storytelling. It was a favorite pastime of Sif and Thor’s to be his practice audience. 

Sif would ask for any tale, but only the one could make her eyes so whimsical. Loki felt warm deep behind his chest at the thought of Sif’s eyes softening for a story equally brutal and romantic. The other girls their age always specified that he tell it sweetly. The other boys asked that Loki tell it bloodily. Thor and Sif simply asked that he tell it as he would, and Loki knew that this is what it was to be truly  _ good _ at something. This is what it was to be trusted. For them, he would tell it any time, every time. They sat quietly, enraptured already and knowing the performance had started, as Loki tilted his head and closed his eyes. The young boy took a deep breath and spoke in a low, wondrous whisper. 

“Long ago, long before even the All Father’s great grandfather ruled…”

***

“Tell us  _ The Tale _ , dear Prince! Tell it grandly!”

He was an adolescent and barraged with a round of cajoling from the gathered crowd. Loki Odinson was not in the mood to treat them to a tale. Did they not realize that he was the butt of a joke not ten minutes ago? Of course not, but they wanted something of him and they expected to receive it regardless. Loki placed the last of his portion of boar in his mouth and was considering which of them he would turn into a toad when he saw her. 

Sif had been on the other side of the hall from where Loki was seated. At the round of requests, all arguing for one theme or another, Sif had ventured over and leaned against a table. Her dark hair was down for once, though her deep red- almost black, really- dress was slit for ease of movement.  Loki forced himself not to stare at the lines of her. Sif had long ago chosen not to dress as if she was a creature of anything other than intensity, yet it still caused his every muscle to clench to so much as look her way. The honesty of it burned him, even as he had not yet fully earned his title of Liesmith. He ached and crushed the revelation before it could cross his mind to tell him why. 

Loki looked instead to Sif’s face and found the softness there that he knew he would find every time. She lifted her eyebrow at his continued silence and Loki instinctually teleported to a point where she would have the best sightline. The Banquet Hall quieted as all present turned in their seats. Thor walked up beside Sif and leaned beside her, his ever present smile gentler on the edges as it always was when Loki weaved a story. Loki spared a moment to internally sigh at himself before taking a deep breath and announcing in the voice of one changed by knowledge and eager to communicate the beauty of it. 

“Tis Alfheim where the tale starts, long before our time…”

***

“This day and night would  _ not  _ be improved in the least by yet another retelling of the day’s accomplishments. Loki! Tempt the Norns with perfection and give us  _ The Tale _ , Silvertongue.”

Sif’s pronouncement was met with good natured laughter and jibes at first, but the response shifted amenably at her request. They were all still in their armor for all that they were fed, watered and healed. Thor and Fandral had near ten women between them and Hogun was feeling congenial enough to pick from Volstagg’s ever full plate. With Sif sitting between Fandral and Thor, Loki next to Hogun, and the ladies scattered all about, they made a rather excitable celebration party. 

All eyes turned to Loki, but his could only see Lady Sif with her dark hair pulled into a high ponytail. She’d missed a spot of blood on her neck, her left cheek was a mess of bruises even after Eir’s work and she looked so very, very alive. Sif in victory was a vision indeed with wine stained lips and goat’s fat greasing the full side of her hand.  One could hardly glance her way without having flashes of her taking down a foe three times her size with her wolf’s smile, and yet her eyes were as soft as they ever were in only this particular kind of moment. 

Loki tuned out Thor and Fandral’s corralling the ladies into seats and whispering to favored ones the treasure of having Loki all to themselves in such a small audience. He ignored Volstagg pushing away his plate and reaching instead for fruit that he could consume much quieter. Loki stood and made Hogun’s offered wine levitate behind him, out of the way. He took a deep breath and waved his hands to dim the candles before speaking in a voice that was warm, gentle and strong as he never dared to present to the Lady Sif. Not in any moment save for this particular kind.

“A tale you wish and  _ The Tale _ you shall have, born and burned in intensity…”

***

“Tell me  _ The Tale _ .”

Sif whispered it against his chest with a kiss. She was tucked under his arm and bare under his furs. Loki’s hand in her hair tensed as she ran her fingers around his navel and further tangled one long  _ glorious _ leg with his. He grabbed her aimless right hand with his free left and blinked up at the ceiling. His mind had only just calmed from the racing of the past hour  _ is this happening, it’s happening, this is happening, stars and branches and Norns and wind, this is happening Sif Sif sifsifsif,  _ and the request threw him for yet another loop. The combination of something old, steeped in things unsaid and the wonder of her naked skin on his, her taste on his tongue, the memory of his name branded upon her pleasure-broken breath was enough to flay him just that much more open.

“Now?” He asked, failing to make his voice more incredulous than vulnerable. Loki felt Sif’s smile against his skin  _ stars, he died and was born a thousand times in that instant _ before she shifted to look up at him. He looked down and saw the softness in her eyes and recognized it. Loki recognized it from the particular moment when he pushed into her slowly, when she stepped into his arms and told him  _ come here,  _ when she pulled him over her and tugged him down for a kiss, and the last however many centuries from across campfires, banquet halls, taverns and meadows. 

Loki brought Sif’s hand to his mouth and kissed the palm, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. He spoke in a whisper reverent and gentle as one saves for the holiest of places. 

**“A tale you wish and _The Tale of Lovers_ you shall have from a lover to one loved…” **

**Author's Note:**

> Sidenote: I am open to suggestions as to plot. Maybe someone will spark something.


End file.
